


A Simple Proposal

by Ylevihs



Series: How Not to Fall [52]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Retribution Spoilers, canon typical angst, headcanon heavy, sort of soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23983873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ylevihs/pseuds/Ylevihs
Summary: Daniel has a suggestion, but Richard beats him to it.
Relationships: Herald/Sidestep (Fallen Hero)
Series: How Not to Fall [52]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1327892
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	A Simple Proposal

“Absolutely not,” Up. Daniel was up from the chair, off the guard, and. “We need to talk,” A hand. Oh, fisting into his shirt and Daniel was practically dragging him towards the door where Chen was standing guard. There was a brief glimmer of hope that. Nope. Not a chance, Chen turned and unlocked the door without a word. Clearly, he could recognize a private argument brewing. Other movement. Ricardo half moving towards the door as well before being stopped by whatever look was on Chen’s face.

Not good.

Daniel’s hand slipped down and clenched into Richard’s. He could feel a heartbeat in his fingertips—impossible to tell if it was his or Daniel’s at this point. A wave of something accusatory and.

Not good.

“Danny,” pain. Fear. Anger. Frustration. Determination. Pulling Richard down the hallway as far as he thought was away from questioning ears. Thoughts swirling fast and hard. Determination. Resolve.

“No,” firm. Solid like a gale force wind smacking him in the face. Like getting hit with a brick wall. Like smacking into the.

“Daniel,” Richard tried and failed to keep the threading anxiety from his voice.

“I will not sit by and let you kill yourself,” Daniel hissed, finally turning to look at him. The wince wasn’t gone by then and Daniel grimaced. “Richie I,” and trailed for a while, turning his gaze down to the floor and staring at it like it was a face he only half recognized. Anger at himself as well, which stung even more. “I won’t let that happen,” bright and searing hot. Fresh metal pulling from the forge. “I have spent too long watching this kill you slowly and watching you plan your own death around it,”

It took more effort than Richard wanted to admit to force the words out. “I’m not going there to die,” It didn’t taste like a lie. But it stuck between his teeth and bled something acrid over his tongue. He wasn’t. That’s not what this was about. Anymore. It. It was about getting Regina away from the people he cared about. Making sure they weren’t attacked. It was about getting into the Farm and trying to sabotage something—anything—that he could while he was in there. Wreck their computers or their back up files, set it on. No, not fire, couldn’t do fire without risking the lives of. Just information dumping then. Try to do subtly so that the other minds hard at work debasing human morality wouldn’t panic and flush everything down the drain.

It wasn’t about dying.

It.

Ghosts of the original plans he’d had flitted in and out of his mind like a cheap haunted house attraction. He could flush them out of the buildings. The poor souls in the vats couldn’t. Wouldn’t. But a slow evacuation. Maybe a gas leak? And then all it would take was an unfortunate spark. And then. Was he willing to put their blood on his hands if something went wrong? The blood of those left behind, deemed unworthy of saving in the face of a disaster. Only if his blood was there too.

If everything went the way it should with Miss Ochoa. If he was lucky. Kept getting lucky. If he played it right, they were already exposed. Not nearly enough was in place to ensure it could work.

Hope was poisonous. And infectious. And beginning to be the only thing Richard had left to work with besides the far more seductive and intoxicating despair.

“Promise me,” shot it out like a bullet. Ripping through skin and flesh and burying itself deep in Richard’s spine. “Promise me you mean to come back from there,” Daniel finally looked him in the eye and pinned him down with the stare. Richard could feel his hips tightening and aching with the tension in his legs. “That you’re not going to try some stupid blaze of glory shit,”

The temptation was horrible and sat hideous and heavy in Richard’s lungs.

He swallowed against it and felt it croak in his throat, furious at being denied.

“I promise,” there was no more adrenaline left to dump into his system, and all that was left was bone aching exhaustion. But it was honest. He wanted it to be honest even more than Daniel did, which was certainly saying something.

“Good,” Daniel nodded, hints of grim satisfaction flitting through his head. Those thoughts had razor edges, fit to slice deep and hook in. He placed his hands on Richard’s shoulders, squeezing ever so gently. “Then it won’t bother you that I’m coming with you,”

Ah. It seemed there was plenty of epinephrine left after all. Hiding just behind his heart and ready to spring into action. Eyes widening and muscles tensing for an unknown assailant. Ready for the fight. The heaviness in his limbs was swept away like a shot of caffeine to the brain and Richard managed to reach up and place his hands on Daniel’s forearms. It took about half a second for the words to crash into the back of his teeth and begin pilling up on his tongue.

“What? No, no, no,” weak and squeaking with. Nameless. “You can’t,” Pure and unadulterated. “I,” Stronger than fear, punching into his stomach and making him want to curl into a ball. Not just in theory anymore. Not just the thought of him getting caught and picked apart. Ripping open his back and prodding at the nerves to see if they could find what made him fly. Real deal really happening really going to.

“Yes, yes, yes,” only half mocking. “You are not doing this alone, Richie,” harder pressure on the shoulders. Not a threat but related to it. Some distant cousin that wasn’t invited to family reunions anymore. “I need to make sure you get out of there alive,” Richard’s mind groped out for something to say. He could see and feel what was coming. Hear it sizzling in the back of his throat like bare flesh on sun baked pavement in summer.

“What? Don’t trust me?” it didn’t even sound like a joke in his own head, and it did nothing to soften any of Daniel’s sudden edges. Toned down none of the blinding light and soothed none of the burning heat. No shade. No mercy. Summer in the desert spared no one. He wanted to shrivel up and turn to dust.

“I want to,” quieter at least. God only knew what was going on on his face to earn the softness in Daniel’s voice. “But even if I didn’t, this isn’t about trusting you,” Richard knew. Had hoped to distract him with the misdirection and failed, spectacularly because Daniel was still. Was still going to. “It’s about you trusting me when I say that I need you alive. Edith needs you alive,” which earned an ugly snort.

“Bringing the dog in is playing dirty,” It wasn’t like someone else couldn’t adopt and take care of her. Wasn’t like Daniel couldn’t take care of her on his own. She loved Danny just as much as she loved Richard. It still struck a hard chord inside his chest to think about her waiting for him to come home and never seeing him again. Dog minds didn’t accept loss well.

“Maybe,” and at least Daniel huffed out a little at that. “But it’s true. I agree that something has to be done. And if this is the way you think is best to deal with it, then I’ll support you. But I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Richard. I’m going to be there with you,” leaning in just enough to press his forehead firmly to Richard’s. “I can fly behind the plane. Hell, I can lay down and relax on the roof to keep an eye on things, but I’m not letting you do this without me,”

And Richard could see the light at the end of the tunnel was not sunlight, but in fact the head beams of an approaching train. Set to run him over and grind him into the earth between the tracks. Had enough time to. Barely enough time to. He could dodge or completely let it run him down or. Heard Daniel take a deep inhale and felt his thoughts fluttering into a hap hazard type of order. Focusing.

“Trust me to be there for you when you need it, Richard,” like a warning bellow that the end was approaching. “Not just now, but in the future too. Trust me to be your partner,”

“Danny,” almost desperate sounding in his own ears. Daniel pressed on, regardless. Building momentum and speed. Gathering his courage. Speeding down the tracks with one destination in sight.

He set his mouth firmly, squaring his shoulders. He stayed hovering at Richard’s height. “And when we both make it out of this alive, because we both are making it out of this alive,”

“Daniel,” and Christ in heaven his hand felt like it weighed three thousand pounds as he reached up and flattened his palm over Daniel’s mouth. Without any pressure. All for show but he couldn’t. There wasn’t a single fiber of his being that could let him finish that sentence. Not when he could see exactly what Danny wanted to say. Notes of pain from Daniel’s thoughts as the flew up and then settled again. Spiraling only for a moment or two before stilling and waiting. Knowing that he knew. “I love you,” as if it was an apology.

He let his hand fall away from Danny’s mouth, freeing that dangerous tongue up to. To. “I love you too, Richie,” softer than it had any right to be. Not slipping into an accusation. But. “You know what I was going to say, don’t you?” wary. And deservedly so. A tiptoe on the surface of cracking ice. That only seemed to be splintering more and more with every ounce of new weight.

Something inside of him shattered and cut deep. “I,” couldn’t. Even admitting to. To knowing any part of it. Because then Daniel would. He could. The shaking must have started in his hands; Daniel had reached down and was holding them between his own. Warm. Solid. Steady, despite the nervous flicker going on his own mind. Little pips of dread and hurt and. “I do, and,” a long pause that stretched itself thin, arching over them both like clouds that only threatened rain and never delivered. Finally blocking out some of the heat from Daniel’s heart. Stifling some of the brightness.

Ah, beans.

“And?” It must have been an either an eternity or a minute before Daniel finally pushed at him, weakening under the strain of his own internal agony. So sure. So sure that he knew Richard would say no and shut it down. But wanting it anyway. Wanting at least some sort of answer so that if things went wrong. If Richard couldn’t be saved. If.

Whatever it was that surged up from his toes, if took control. Settled deep in the darkest corners of his brain and spread out, sticky and putrid. And Richard resented how easily it did so. It hurt. Every second of it hurt and felt like tiny explosions between his temples. He could do this. He. Daniel asked for so very fucking little of him. Wanting such small things. Had such basic desires and. 

It terrified him that he wanted it too. Almost beyond words. Almost.

“And. If we’re doing this, we should at least try to do it right, right?” bitterness that he couldn’t clear from his throat. Desperately hoping that Daniel didn’t think it was directed at him. There was a moment of recognition in Daniel’s eyes that was immediately overshadowed by. By. Richard squeezed the hands holding his own and took a deep breath, using them to steady himself. Lowering down. Daniel took in a small breath and bit down on his lower lip. Tense. Excited. Scared.

This was stupid. It was. He couldn’t do this to Daniel, but he couldn’t just not do it, either. Not when. When he was right there and already pressing on and. He couldn’t do this to himself. Because if he really did go through with it, then it would mean so much more than. No. Another spot of his brain piped up and fought with a different argument. Why would it matter? He shouldn’t do it because it was just symbolic. All that would change would be the vocabulary. Nothing between the two of them would be adjusted at all. It would mean exactly the. A third, desperate voice. Begging him to wait. To really do it right. To make it memorable and sweet and something worth cherishing and.

His hips grumbled but accepted the new position.

Kneeling on the floor with Daniel’s hands still in his own. Heart and roughly a dozen more voices screaming in his throat. Desperate. Terrified. Furious.

“You were going to ask me a question,” this was awful. Was this dying? He felt like he was dying. He’d died before and this was strikingly similar and. Daniel nodded, eyes squinting tight and swallowing hard.

“I was,” an easy admission. No spikes or beating wind. It burned itself into Richard’s brain. He felt himself nodding along, copying Daniel’s lead as though he had no thoughts of his own to offer up.

“Alright then,” and fuck, his hands were still shaking. It felt like his whole body was. Probably was. His chest certainly shuddered, audible in the inhale. Richard swallowed and heard his throat click. “Daniel Sullivan. Will you marry me?” tightening his hands against Daniel’s but he couldn’t help it. Couldn’t stop himself because Daniel’s face broke into a grin even as. As. Fuck, he was crying? That.

“Yes,” pulling him up in a clean movement that would have made his hips scream were it not for the fact that at the end of the tug was Daniel’s mouth on his. Half crying and smiling into the kiss. It didn’t linger nearly long enough to hide Richard’s own tears. To help settle the complete chaos scrambling his thoughts. “Yes, I will,” more secure sounding now. More steady and stable and he was wrapping his arms tightly around Richard’s shoulders. Clutching him close. And holding for a long few seconds as Richard tried to get a hold of himself. It felt like he was rising up through water—crushed on every side and just one more kick, one more handful of emptiness away from the surface and clean air flooding his lungs. Burning.

And then a small laugh from Daniel, bringing sudden heat as he nestled his forehead against Richard’s neck. “You could have just told me to kneel down, you know?” slightly breathy and distant sounding.

“I wanted to ask you,” the words came completely unbidden from his mouth, without planning or inspection. A simple truth. He wanted to ask so some part of him could hear Daniel say yes. To make it seem like it was Daniel’s choice whether or not. Whether or not.

Down the hallway behind them, the door swung back open and Chen stepped heavily out. Took a brief second to take in the embrace. The tears. A not unkind expression passed over his features before settling back to his normal expression.

“Argent called in. She’s almost back here with the regene,” speaking slowly as he decided not to comment. “If we’re doing this, we need to go over the details and get moving,”


End file.
